“There was much more than she’d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint tea. And with came Maester Luwin.” -A Game of Thrones

Breakfast at Winterfell

Thoughts:

The continental elegance of the soft boiled egg was a wonderful counterpart to the salty heartiness of the bacon. Likewise, the sweetness of the preserves and honey paired well with the other elements of the meal. It was an interesting textural experience, too. The almost creaminess of the perfectly done soft-boiled egg, the crispiness of the bacon, and the pop of berry seeds all added something to the meal. While it is a fairly hefty meal, the mint tea lightens it more than one would expect, and is the perfect finish to what might be the perfect breakfast.

Bottom line? It’s cold in The North, but this is a great breakfast for any time of year, anywhere.

Cooks Notes: Splurge on the bacon. If you truly wish your breakfast to have the feel of Winterfell, don’t skimp on the ingredients. I used a nice cut of Black Forest bacon, and eggs from happy chickens. This list of ingredients will make a big breakfast for about two people.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

6 strips of bacon

4 small slices rustic bread

butter, honey, and berry preserves

sharp white cheese, such as cheddar

2 mint tea bags

Prep:

Cook up the bacon to your preferences. While the bacon cooks, toast your bread, then butter it and add either preserves or honey (or both!). Begin to arrange the food on your plates, and heat water for tea. When the bacon is done, put it aside and keep it warm under another plate or a sheet of tin foil. Then you can focus on your eggs.

Instructions for eggs:

Fill a saucepan about halfway with water and bring it to a simmer. Gently lower the eggs into the water one at a time.

Cook the eggs for about 4 minutes. Don’t wander off! (although the worst that will happen is you will have hard boiled eggs- still yummy)

Using a slotted spoon, fish the eggs out of the hot water. If you don’t plan on eating them immediately, run them under cold tap water for 30 seconds to keep them from continuing to cook in the shell.

Place the egg in an egg cup if you have one, or in the partially hollowed out end of a bread loaf, as in the picture above. To eat, you will remove the very top 1/3 of the eggshell. Use an egg-cutter if you have one, otherwise hit the shell with a knife or edge of a spoon in a circle around the top. Carefully insert your knife/spoon into the egg and lever off the top. You’ll know your egg is perfect if the white is reasonably firm and the yolk is hot but still runny. A small spoon is ideal for this, such as a tea spoon, or a grapefruit spoon.

Made this this morning, certainly a winner! Extremely filling; the bread with the preserves and honey does well to even out the protein heavy side of it which (as i find with full English breakfasts) can leave your stomach slightly queasy at the start of the day. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any mint tea so Earl Grey had to suffice! I look forward to trying more of your recipes.

This breakfast actually inspires me to make an effort in the morning beyond cereal+milk=breakfast. I used parmesan in place of cheddar and it was fantastic. It’s a nice sharp, sometimes nutty, contrast to the sweetness of the blackberry preserves and the creaminess of the soft-boiled egg. A lovely, sensual breakfast.

This was really great, although my soft-cooked egg was pretty much raw the first try. Definitely takes more than 4 minutes. The black forest bacon was fabulous and I was pleased to discover it actually wasn’t burnt although it looked that way. I tried butter, honey, and preserves the first time but just substituted Nutella this time (yeah, barely medieval). It was a great contrast to the cheese, I got some l’Edel de Cleron. Overall…absurdly delicious! I really shouldn’t be spending this long cooking and eating in teh mornings!

I’m so excited to have found this blog! I’m always enraptured by food in books and Ice & Fire is no exception.
It’s actually my birthday this week and, being the middle of Winter, I’ve decided this is the perfect start to my special day.
Thanks so much for posting!

This really makes me want to make a section of my blog strictly for reviewing recipes like this. We get eggs from our own hens, purchase organic whole milk only(we plan to eventually get a Jersey cow, but don’t currently have the space where we’re at), and have started growing a lot of our own fruits and vegetables. I want to try this with homemade strawberry preserves with my homemade whole wheat bread. It sounds so fantastic. My son will be going to Head Start soon, so maybe I’ll be able to get motivated earlier to do breakfasts like this for him more often. :) At least until little miss is born in March.

I love the way you cook your bacon! It looks seriously perfect with the slightly charred crispy edges. With honey, yum yum. This is the kind of hearty breakfast I could eat every morning. With my porridge as well, of course.

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